The Crimson Road
by ToumaFF
Summary: To have finally reached the top, only to fall as quickly as he had ascended... most would have broken. For 'Weed', it is not a question of giving up. He was a Weed, unwanted by society, and forgotten by all else. Yet, he is relentless, unbroken, and his strength of will is unmatched. He will rise up to the top, or die trying. For him, the Crimson Road is the path to walk. [LMS fic]


It was already well past midnight when he arrived back at the house. As usual, the entire neighborhood was sleeping; it was expected since most of the families living here were workers. It wasn't a rich neighborhood by any means, but the houses were sturdy and relatively near the city. Much better than their previous one anyway.

Opening the front door, he made sure to be quiet as he entered. Even though there was only one other person home at the moment, he didn't want to disturb her. Her comfort was his main priority after all. Especially since their grandmother was no longer at home...

That brought another problem back to the front of his head. The hospital bills were piling up, and despite the generous discount offered by the hospital, he could barely afford to pay them off as well as the rent on the house. They had moved at a bad time it seemed.

It had been their grandmother's idea in the first place; to sell her old and broken down house in order to move nearer to the city where his sister could attend the more prestigious schools. It had been a good idea in the first place, as the money offered to her for the land had been substantial, more than enough to tide them over for the next few years or so, as long as he kept up with his jobs.

But then she had fallen ill, and had to be admitted to the hospital. He and his sister had been deeply worried, and despite himself, he forced her to go to the best hospital in the area. The medical costs had been exorbitant, but it was the least he could do for the woman who had given them shelter after their parents had passed away.

Now, with all of the bills piling up, they either had to move once more and sell the house... or he needed to find more money. He already had three jobs, though they were all part-time, as a high-school dropout he had no other choice. He was lucky enough that the employers didn't care about his age, or he would be out of a job.

With the impending decisions on his mind, he walked up to his room after taking a long drink from the tap. He still had a bit of time to think it over, and for now, there was nothing else to do but pass the time. There was a shift waiting for him in the early mornings, and there was no point in sleeping when the job required little to no thinking.

Sitting down at his desk, he powered up his computer; the old machine whirling to life in a staccato of noise. It was very old, but luckily the things he did on it could still run without issue, if a bit laggy at times. As the generic looking background image came into view, he promptly launched the only game installed on the machine.

The loading screen was familiar, and he didn't have to wait long until he saw the login screen. There, the elaborate title of 'Continent of Magic' stared back at him, and he typed in his credentials soon after. He only had one character, as he only had one goal in mind when he played these type of games. To make your character as strong as possible, and to reach the top of the world.

In this game, he had no equal.

* * *

His name was Lee Hyun, and to be honest, he was no one special. Or so he told himself everyday. He was 20 years old, and had nothing to show for it. Dropping out of high school in order to support his sister and grandmother, he was considered worthless in a society that emphasized on higher education.

Plain-looking, bad at socializing, and generally an unremarkable fellow, Hyun was one of the many 'working' class citizens of South Korea. In reality, he was classless, because he did not hold a job worth speaking about. Those that had only menial labour were looked down upon in society as the weeds that surrounded the flowers.

But if there was something that made him stand out above the rest, it was his resolve. Once given a goal, he would put his entirety into seeing it through. Whether it was supporting his family from his young age or conquering a virtual world, he would see it through and let nothing stand in his way.

To that end, he was now the strongest player by far in the Continent of Magic, having reached the maximum level just a while ago. Even their latest update to the game's contents proved to be no challenge to him, especially with his unique build. Entire raids that required a full group of fifty players could easily be cleared by him, while the top guilds struggled to keep up.

It was with boredom in his mind as he traversed the Emerald Wastelands, the newest area introduced to the game. There was no one else in the new area just yet, as the monsters being introduced here were higher than the previous ones by far. The few that had ventured out into this new area were the highest leveled guilds, often accompanied by their top healers.

Hyun's character however, did not need the help of others. In this game, there was an incredibly high level cap, as the developers had scaled the game such that by the time the players would surpass the hardest of mobs, new content could be introduced. They had never expected someone like him however.

His character, a Soul Warrior named 'Weed', was the sole exception in the game. Even if there were very strong solo players out there, a single player could only become so strong by themselves. Tackling the bosses by themselves should have been impossible, as there was no way a single player could deal enough damage let alone sustain the incoming damage. But his character was named 'Weed' for a reason. He was persistent to a fault, never giving up and ignoring all attempts at removal.

From the very first dungeon he had soloed, to the last, he had fought alone with no other help. How he did it was much talked about among the general populace of the game. They were always awed by his reputation in the game, and there were several groups that tried to keep track of his movements in hopes of somehow imitating him. CoM was one of the most popular games in the world for a reason, though it's popularity was now steadily declining due to a new competitor in the market.

As Hyun watched his character defeat the area's boss, he felt no satisfaction. He had reached the point where any upgrades to his character was almost impossible. His character received an incredible amount of damage but almost as fast as his health bar dropped, it was replenishing nearly as fast. As his HP steadily dropped, he absently pressed a single hotkey and watched blandly as his character's attack speed tripled. The boss soon fell, and he scanned the list of drops with a well-trained eye.

His abilities were focused on life-stealing, in which every attack returned a portion of the damage back as health. Not many could sustain such a build as the drawback was that you were restricted to the rogue-type sets. Meaning that he had to dual-wield daggers or swords as well as being limited to leather armour. As such, anyone that tried to sustain such a build would probably be one-shot by a boss.

But his level and equipment were at a point where he could easily keep up with the damage the bosses dealt, even with their numerous elemental damage bonuses. This game was not meant to be 'won', you were not supposed to be able to conquer it alone. One of the features of the game after all was the 'limitless' potential they advertised. Very high level caps, unreachable skill caps, and a difficulty scale that should have kept everyone busy.

Hyun's character stood alone, all of the monsters in the zone having been cleared. He opened up his equipment menu, looking over every piece of gear with a sense of fondness. These were hard-earned pieces, most of them having been found over the course of numerous grinding sessions. He recalled that he had stayed up for almost a week straight at one point just grinding without real purpose except to get stronger.

Sighing, he closed the equipment menu and logged out of the game. The title screen flashed invitingly at him once more, but he closed the game as well. On the desktop, he opened up the internet browser and hesitated. Shaking his head, he typed in some keywords that would lead him to a trading website.

He had been planning on deleting his character soon, he had reached the max level after all. There would be no point in continuing to play if he could no longer become stronger, and besides... he would be too busy soon enough. The three part time jobs he had right now was not going to be enough. He needed a full time job or two more part time jobs to make up the hours. It was not going to be easy, and he knew that there would be very little free time or sleep available for him.

The only reason he was bothering with this was the possibility of making some extra money. Apparently the sale of virtual goods were on the rise, and there was a very steady market for it already. Or so the newspaper article had informed him. He didn't think he could get much for his account; he couldn't imagine himself paying anything for a virtual character. But the chance of making any amount, even a few hundred won was still better than nothing.

Clicking on the most popular website, he quickly signed up and was surprised to see how easy it was. As long as he provided valid banking information, he could start trading immediately. The majority of the site was littered with items from Royal Road; no surprise as that particular game had overtaken all others. Under the CoM section, he was heartened to see that there were still a respectable number of trades going on and that selling characters was not uncommon. CoM only needed your login information to access the character after all, whereas a VR game like Royal Road was keyed to your identity.

Briefly looking at the others for example, Hyun typed in all of the required information about his character. It was with a nostalgic feeling in his heart that he carefully listed the exact specifications of his character. He had memorized all of the variables that made up his strength, as it was something he took considerable pride in. Those were the results of long hours of hard work.

After he was done with the description, he logged back into the game in order to take the required screenshots. Screenshots in this day and age were much more reliable than in previous generations. Namely, forging a screenshot that could bypass most of the analysis programs required each and every individual pixel to be doctored. Certainly there were people who could forge the screenshots, but they were very rare. To that end, screenshots were a very reliable method of proving you owned a certain item.

He didn't bother with cleaning or cropping the images, just taking several screenshots before uploading them to the site. For the price point, he had to decide how he wanted to price his character. For a while he debated setting a steady buyout price, but couldn't find a price that he felt that others would agree with. Looking at the clock with a tired eye, he decided to simply enter in 50,000 won into the starting bid and left the buyout empty. It would end in 24 hours and he would be satisfied with any amount of money really.

What he did not know however, was just how much attention his auction would bring not even an hour after he went to sleep.

* * *

For the denizens of the net, the late hour of the night was no hindrance to them. Instead, it was during this time when the trading activities actually picked up as several buyers looked into sniping the bids while the other casual users were asleep. As such, it was no surprise when the curious users stumbled upon the inconspicuously named auction, 'Strong Character for Sale'.

Opening up the page they scoffed at the shoddy layout, simply being a paragraph of text that they skimmed over. They were mostly interested in the screenshots as they contained all the information needed to a veteran of the game. As they opened up the screenshots however...

**Anon1: **"No way..."

**Anon2: **"This is a joke right?"

The initial comments were of shock, they couldn't believe what was being shown in the screenshots. Besides the obvious strength of the items, they could not believe the stats that were being showcased in the character info screen. It was at such an absurdly high level that many could not believe it.

**Anon7: **"Man, such an obvious scam, look at his stat screen."

**Anon13: **"No ones going to fall for this, idiot!"

But accompanying the disbelief and accusations, was the voice of doubt that continued to haunt the users. They reopened the screenshots in other programs, trying to detect a distinctive element of forgery so that their mind could rest. The buyers inside of them would not let them rest because of a simple reason. If the possibility that this auction was in fact true... then they would be a fool not to bid on it.

Their curiosity at full blast, they continued to scour over the screenshots.

**Anon54: **"Those weapon stats..."

**Anon62: **"A full set of Red Dragon armour? and that sword... that is mithril isn't it?"

**Anon78: **"For a forgery, he sure spent a lot of time on it..."

Even as they kept denying the validity of the auction, none of them were leaving, instead they continued their chatter. It was an inevitability that the auction would spread through to the other social media sites. Posts such as 'Look at this fake character' and 'Who thinks this character is real?' were posted everywhere, attracting the attentions of all gamers alike, even those who had abandoned CoM. The reason was simple, as many of these gamers had at one point been a player of CoM. Their sense of nostalgia brought them back to check out the link.

**Anon542: **"Guys, the graphic designers over at LK say they can't find a hint of forgery.

**Anon642: **"Holy crap, this is real!"

**Anon778: **"The chief designer of LK Co. just confirmed it! This is real!"

Numerous blog posts and websites began to report on the strange auction, and inevitably the interest drew in the core of the CoM players; the ones that still played the game fulltime.

**Anon2346: **"Character name is Weed... could it be?"

**Anon2374: **"It's definitely him, no one else could have these stats."

**Anon2412: **"Yep, it has to be him, the equipment matches. I didn't know he had reached the max level though."

Confirmation. There was no more doubt in their minds now.

**Anon3125: **"This is a jackpot!"

**Anon3295: **"Uhg, why is there only 18 hours left?"

**Anon3310: **"Stop bringing the price up so much, I want a chance at this!"

Everyone wanted a piece of the auction, to have a hand at making what was undoubtedly going to be history. To that end, most of them only bumped up the auction price by the bare minimum, but at the rate it was climbing, the casual users could no longer keep up. It did not stop climbing.

For Hyun, who had created the auction without knowing anything about the current market of the game, he could not have known the true value of his character. The price continued to climb, from 50,000 won to 1,000,000 won within an hour. Yet the bids did not stop, as the experienced players knew how much they could earn from selling a single piece of equipment from that character. Indeed, even the sword alone was worth ten times the current bid price. With that in mind, the bidding frenzy continued.

Soon, it reached a point where only the real enthusiasts could bid further. The one's without a very steady job could not continue, as they imagined what the final bid price would end up as. The news continued to spread, and the keywords brought up the page to the forefront of the internet. News corporation were contacted, and the true professionals began to bid in turn.

A marketing director for a major news company got a call from an associate and immediately placed a staggering 30,000,000 won bid. Not to be outdone, other news agencies picked up on it and began to bid as well. They knew what kind of publicity they could get as the winners of this auction and began to divert their funds towards this goal.

At this point, it was no longer a bid between people, but rather between corporations. They could see the benefits of this auction, and knew that putting their funds into this could only do them good in the long run. Ad campaigns costed significantly more and often did nothing for their standings after all.

**Anon7002: **"Look at the price... why did he set the time to only one day?"

**Anon7009: **"Yea, was he sure that he was going to get the maximum bid?"

**Anon7032: **"It's still climbing, look, 178,000,000 won."

People who had stopped bidding could only hold their breath as the price continued to skyrocket. Every news site that had a gaming focus kept reporting the auction and of course there was no one that didn't know of the ongoing auction.

Except for maybe Hyun himself. He woke up soon after he had placed the auction and had immediately set off to work. There was no TV or Radio available, and he didn't bother checking the news from his computer. As such, he was oblivious to what was happening as he headed off to his construction job.

The fervor of the auction continued, with the heads of the corporation supporting the bidders furiously. They had a valid reason after all. With this amount of media attention, the amount they would use from their funds would be trivial in comparison to what they could gain. CoM was something that almost every gamer in South Korea knew and had fond memories of. By winning the auction and showcasing the character, they could bring a surge of viewership to their channel.

With that in mind, the hours ticked on, and the bid finally exceeded the 1,000,000,000 won mark. The smaller media groups retreated, leaving only the giants behind. Finally, the auction ended in the early hours of the morning. CTS Media was crowned the victors of the auction, with their president even chipping in directly from his salary.

The auction was over for the masses of the net.

* * *

Hyun received a phone call in the very early mornings, immediately awakening him from his tired sleep. Groggily, he picked up the ancient looking land phone and spoke into it.

"Hello?"

He had worked himself to the bone yesterday at the construction site and had only 30,000 won to show for it. The stingy boss had cut his pay because he was 'slower' than the others. It wasn't true, but he couldn't very well protest or he would be fired.

"Hello." A very cultured and articulate voice answered back, and he could immediately tell that it was a distinguished woman on the other side.

"Uh... sorry, you must have the wrong number." Deciding on a polite response, he made to hang up before she replied.

"You recently auctioned off your CoM account on the internet, correct?"

He hesitated before replying. "Right."

"Then I have reached the right person. I am Yoon Nahee of CTS Media, and I'm just calling to inform you that the money has been successfully deposited to your bank account. You can further confirm on the trading website, and please do not hesitate to contact us at anytime."

"W-what?" He blinked the sleep away from his mind, sitting up straighter as he took in her words. "The auction sold?"

"Correct... have you not checked it yet?" Her tone was disbelief. She could not believe that someone who had just sold their account for such an amount would not even bother checking up on it.

"No, I was busy yesterday." That was a bit of an understatement as he had worked a straight 12 hour shift. "May I ask what the successful bid was?"

"3,090,000,000 won," she replied promptly.

"..." Hyun did not reply.

Originally, the networth of his character, Weed, could not have exceeded 150,000,000 won simply due to the nature of an older game. But he had several factors that helped hype up his auction. Namely, the amount of viewers that kept track of the auction had invited the media groups in the first place. Without the staggering amount of interest, the character would have probably been won by a lone person who was feeling nostalgic.

"You are joking with me." Hyun's voice was bitter. If there was something that he hated more than anything, it was when people joked about money.

"W-what?"

"I wouldn't have expected such an elaborate joke from a girl. I'm hanging up now." He finished his words before slamming the phone down onto the receiver. There was really nothing funny he found about such a joke.

Shaking his head, he got up from the floor and began to get ready for the day. He had a few job interviews to go to as well as the part time jobs he currently had. If he wanted to keep their house, he needed to secure at least one more job for the time being. Yet, even as he finished showering and eating his meagre breakfast of scraps, the nagging sensation would not leave the back of his head.

With a loud sigh, he sat down heavily in front of his computer and booted it up. The first thing he did was to quickly open the web browser where he entered the URL for the trading website. On the top right there was a blinking red mail icon that surprised him. Clicking on the auction, he was shocked to see just how many messages he had received. The number of private messages exceeded 10,000!

Heart pounding loudly in his chest, he quickly clicked on the link to his auction. It had sold, he could tell from the large green text that congratulated him. But what caused his heart to almost stop was the number that followed. That amount of zeros... he had never seen such an outrageous sum in his life.

And it was all his.

Shaking, his heart pounding sporadically, he opened up the website for his chosen bank; the only account he had. There, he entered in his account information and promptly sank into his chair in simple disbelief.

3,090,000,000 won greeted his eyes.

* * *

He felt light as he traversed up the steps of the hospital. It was definitely an odd feeling, something he had never felt before. As if the weight of the world had lifted off of his shoulders.

Not even the sterile scent of the hospital environment dampened his mood, and for the first time in years, he had a smile on his face. He smiled to the nurses and patients as he passed them by, and they couldn't help but nod politely at the happy young man. His grandmother's room was at the end of the hall on the 20th floor, and it was with a smile that he opened up the door.

The aging woman in the room looked up in surprise as she took in the figure of her grandson. "Hyun?"

"Grandmother," he greeted happily, startling her. She had never seen her grandson so happy and _carefree._ In fact, she couldn't even recall a time where he smiled after the death of her son and his wife.

"What's the matter, Hyun? Has something happened?" she asked in a worried voice. The last time he had come in was to tell her that he had finally gotten his ID and that he could now apply for official jobs.

"Grandmother, you don't have to worry about us anymore." He sat down by the chair at her side, taking her frail hands into his own. "I... I finally got paid."

She sat up a bit straighter, a small smile gracing her face. "That's great, Hyun. How much?"

He knew that she was probably humouring him now, knowing that he couldn't have gotten much since he had just received his government ID the week before. She probably thought that he was just putting up a front to relieve her fears. His grandmother hated being a burden on the two people that she had wanted to protect.

"Enough, grandma... we don't have to worry anymore." It must have been the way he had said it, because his grandmother widened her eyes.

"What do you mean? The bills, Hyun... they're going to keep coming. You shouldn't have checked me into this hospital... this is too expensive for someone like me." Her voice was sad, but serious. She hated seeing just how hard her only grandson worked to support them, hated seeing what he had to sacrifice just to keep them afloat.

"No, grandma. We don't have to worry about any of that anymore." Hyun assured her before bringing out a receipt from his jacket pocket. "Here."

She took the piece of paper and squinted curiously at it. It was an account statement from the Bank of Korea, and as she read the balance on it, she suddenly felt light headed. "H-hyun... what is this?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I got paid," he repeated firmly, smiling even as the tears spilled from his grandmother's eyes.

"B-but... how?" she whispered back, still not truly believing the number on the receipt.

"Luck, I guess," he muttered, still a bit unsure of what truly had happened to make his auction skyrocket like it did. "But it's all there, all real."

"Oh, Hyun... you know what this means?" she asked in tears. "You can go back to school again, y-you... you don't have to work anymore."

He nodded silently, the amount of money he had was more than enough to live on for the foreseeable future. He could probably even live off of it if he did not spent it on anything extravagant. Though he did not like the thought of going back to school, he knew that his grandmother had considered it a personal failure when he had to drop out of school in order to support them. For his family, he would gladly do his best to make them proud.

"Maybe, but for now let's get you healthy again, grandma." He was going to up her care as soon as he could, maybe even move her to one of the private hospitals for more intensive treatments. "I told Hayan to come as soon as she could after school."

For a moment there was nothing to say, and his grandmother simply smiled with the tears in her eyes. A huge weight had lifted off of both of their shoulders. For her, it was the guilt of being a burden and not being able to care for her grandchildren. For him, it was the freedom that came with having finally reached his goal of being able to support his family completely. There was no longer any need to struggle everyday, he no longer needed to work himself to the bone for minimum wage, hoping to make enough money to pay the bills each month.

"Well isn't this a nice sight."

Both of the occupants of the room turned to look at the newcomer in surprise. It was a tall, blonde-haired man, dressed in an expensive looking suit complete with pristine shoes and sunglasses to finish the look. He was not alone, as four other men, dressed similarly, flanked him as they walked into the room as if they owned the place.

"Who the hell are you?" Hyun shouted angrily, standing up aggressively. He did not like the smirks on their faces, or the way they spread themselves out as if to prevent him from leaving.

"Now now, that's not polite." The apparent leader chastised him, taking off his sunglasses to peer at him directly. Those eyes looked down on him, holding no confusion as to what he saw. "It's not nice to shout at your elders like that, have you been taught manners?"

"I don't care!" He shouted back. "Leave before I call security!"

The sharply dressed man frowned noticeably. "Without even hearing us out first? Tsk, what a rude boy." Taking out a cigarette he casually placed it in his mouth and lit it much to the ire of Hyun. "In any case, I wouldn't do that If I were you, kid. We would have to come back another time then."

Gritting his teeth, Hyun glared heatedly at the gathered men, doing nothing but amusing them. "What the hell do you want?"

Taking a long draw from his cigarette, the man gazed down impassively on him. "We actually have some legitimate business with you. I heard that you have recently come into some good fortune?"

Hyun felt his veins run cold, he did not like where this was heading. "What of it...?" he replied hesitantly.

"Your father took out a loan from us quite a while back. We're here to collect on that."

"_Debt?" _His mind reeled as he took in the words. He knew exactly what the man was talking about. In the past, he remembered a situation like this where they had confronted their grandmother. They had nothing back then so all they did was rough up the place before leaving angrily. The debt that his father had borrowed from the worst possible source: loan sharks.

"I can tell from your expression that you know what I'm talking about." The blonde-haired man remarked casually, taking another long drag from his cigarette. "And now that you have the money, I'm sure that you are able to pay us back."

When his parents passed away, they left everything they had to their children. Including any outstanding debt. Now, given the circumstances, he should have followed the steps in order to sign a waiver of inheritance; thereby rejecting the legacy clause in those contracts. But his grieving grandmother had no idea of such things, and they definitely did not have anyone to help them with any of it. Thus, when the three month allowance period passed, he was left with all of the outstanding debt left by his parents. It was a staggering 100,000,000 won, which was something they would never have been able to pay off.

Hyun gritted his teeth, but refrained from lashing out. He knew exactly what type of people he was dealing with now. "I will pay off the debt," he spat out bitterly.

In the past, he would have fought tooth and nail against these men, but it wasn't about money when dealing with these type of people. He had no doubt in his mind that they would resort to underhanded tactics if he did not pay up. 100,000,000 won was a substantial sum, but definitely something he could afford to pay off now.

"Good," the man clapped once and gestured for something to his left. He was promptly handed a leather-bound book, and he took his time rifling through its pages. "The amount you have to pay back is... 3,000,000,000 won."

Hyun took a step back, hands clenched tightly into fists. "That's... that's absurd! My father clearly borrowed only 100,000,000 won!"

The man scoffed, giving him a smirk. "It's been eight years, kid. Surely you didn't think that there would be no interest right?"

"You're lying! I'll—I'll report this to the police!" he shouted desperately.

The man actually laughed, spitting out the cigarette from his mouth. "The police? Haha, who the hell do you think you're dealing with, kid. You think the police will side with a pauper like you?"

Hyun struggled not to lash out at the laughing men, and only the hand of his grandmother restrained him from doing something rash. He knew what would happen if he called the police. They would come and the men would leave, nothing would happen. Even if he filed a police report, they wouldn't do anything to help him. The only way he could do something was if he took this to court.

"Right, you still don't seem to realize your situation here." Gesturing to the man behind him who had handed him the book, he snapped his fingers. "Explain to this young man exactly why he owes us 3,000,000,000 won."

The 'accountant' nodded, and gave Hyun a bored look as he recited off a few calculations. "Yes, sir. Listen, kid, what we have here is perfectly legitimate. To start with, we have a simple interest rate of 50%, compounded annually. Really simple math right here, I better lay it out for you. The first year would be 100,000,000 won increased to 150,000,000 won, year two would be 150,000,000 won increased to 220,000,000 won... and so on. I'll let you guess what amount it comes to after the eighth year."

At the accountant's words, Hyun felt his heart drop. It was true that given the outrageous interest rate that it could possibly amount to 3,000,000,000 won. It had been more than 8 years after all. That did not excuse the fact that this was robbery plain and simple. He had no doubt in his mind that if he had sold his character for half of the amount, then they would find some way to calculate to that amount. Skirting on the edges of legality, they relied on intimidation to get what they wanted.

He had another alternative here. If he filed for bankruptcy, then surely he could salvage some of the money. It was an outrageous debt after all, and the system would grant him some leeway in regards to that. The problem was with how these guys operated. They surely had some very skilled lawyers in their pockets, and forcing the issue into open court might not be the best decision. They did not play by the rules of the legal system.

"3,000,000,000 won kid, better pay up." The blonde-haired man cutted into his thoughts, looking bored despite the situation.

"I refuse." He clenched his fists tightly, glaring deep into the man's eyes. That money was more than just a monetary amount. It was his future... the future of his family. To have reached his dream only to have it all ripped away from him... he couldn't stand it.

"No?" the man scoffed, putting on his sunglasses once more. "Suit yourself, kid. If you don't want to pay now, we can always come back tomorrow—though I think the price might just increase."

His words were oozing with confidence, power, and authority. This was a man who was completely used to getting what he wanted, no matter what it was. Even through the sunglasses, Hyun could see those sinister eyes looking down at him. As if he has done this a million times before.

"I wonder... your grandmother looks quite comfortable here in this hospital, will it last? And yourself, we know exactly where you live by the way." Seeing that the comments weren't having their desired effect, he switched targets. "And then there is your sister, Hayan was it? She is quite a beauty you know. It would be quite a shame if something happened to her..."

"Don't you dare touch her!" he snarled, lunging towards the man despite his grandmother's protests.

"Hyun!"

Before he could even land a punch, he was grabbed by two other men and wrestled to the ground. They pressed his face against the floor, and his struggling did little to relinquish their hold. The only thing he could see now was the pristine leather shoes of the blonde man.

The man sighed, crouching down so that Hyun could hear his next words better. "Relax. Nothing will happen... yet. I'm a patient guy, after all, we waited eight years didn't we? If not tomorrow, then the next day, and the next... It would be quite a shame if your whole family ended up in this hospital now wouldn't it?"

That voice filled with false concern made him sick. The threats of violence that he knew they would carry out was simply too much. He couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to his family. Back in the slums, he remembered what had happened to those that refused to pay their debts. The horror stories he had heard was no longer just stories anymore.

"I'll pay," he whispered hollowly. Despite the low tone of his voice, the leader of the group heard him, and gestured for his men to get off. Without looking up, Hyun brought out his bank book; all of his financial information was in that book. They took the book without resistance on his part.

Looking through the book, the accountant nodded and took out a large amount of money from a bag into a briefcase. He dropped the suitcase down beside the kneeling man, and searched for a moment before retrieving a single sheet of paper.

"Your father's signed contract, and 90,000,000 won for the difference." The man informed him primly. They were going to empty out his bank account of the 3,090,000,000 won, but it seemed that they wanted to show that they were true to their words, and were only going to take what they asked for. Somehow, that action filled him with fury.

"Seems everything is in order, we'll be going now. Sorry for the trouble." Gesturing for his men to follow, the blonde-haired man walked towards the door.

"Wait." Hyun got up slowly from the floor, and met the eyes of the ringleader. They were filled with an absolute rage.

"Hmm?" The man offered in disinterest. "What is it, kid?"

"Someday... I don't know when or how, but I will make you pay for this. No matter what." The coldness in his voice caused some of them to stiffen. There was a sort of conviction in his voice that made them believe him. Someone that would do everything in his power to carry out his promise.

A monstrous strength of will.

"I see you still have some fight in you," the man mused aloud, walking closer to the younger man. His men followed behind him, rolling up the sleeves of their shirts aggressively. "But really... let me inform you about the truth of this world. Someone like you, just a mere pauper, coming into this amount of money... that's complete luck. Once in a lifetime sort of thing. You should count yourself lucky that we let you keep some of it. You were born a weed to society, raised by a deadbeat father who was also a weed to society. This money belonging to you? What a joke, don't make me laugh, a weed will always remain a weed."

With those words, he gestured for his men to follow, deciding not to use physical force on the insolent younger man. When he was at the door however, he turned his head around to impart some last words.

"One more thing, kid. I am Han Jinsup of Myongdong, if you think you can rise up in this poisonous world, then make 3,000,000,000 won in five years time. If you manage such a thing, then I will happily bow down to you."

They left the room, and he slid down to the floor. His grandmother sighed heavily in sadness, no longer having the tears to cry.

"Damnit!" He punched the ground with all of his might, the pain only serving to ignite his anger. Everything he had worked so hard towards had been taken from him just like that. It was as if it was a fleeting dream.

"Hyun!" The voice of his sister called from the doorway and she rushed to his side at the sight of his bloody fists. "I-it's okay, brother... we'll be alright."

She had tears in her eyes, and as she cradled his bleeding fists into her own hands, he felt the anger bleed away. It wasn't over yet, he realized. They had taken almost everything from him, but he was still here.

Everything in this harsh world... he had faced head on without help. People looked down on him, ignored him, and sometimes he felt like he was truly alone in this world. But he had never once forgotten his goal. He wanted happiness for his sister and grandmother above all. To do so, he had already resigned himself to a life of endless labour.

"_If you think you can rise up in this poisonous world, then make 3,000,000,000 won in five years time."_

He had done it once already. Then surely another try wouldn't be out of the question. He still had 90,000,000 won to work with. He could do it, with the staggering potential of the virtual world, he could rise above it all. With only his own two fists, he could defeat anything in his way. As it always had been.

Once more, he will become a Weed. Unwanted and hated, but resilient above all else. He will reach the top once more.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

3,000,000,000 won would be equivalent to 3 million USD, in canon anyways. The current exchange rate would be like 2.5 million USD, which is still an outrageous amount.


End file.
